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Terme di Chianciano: Research Results

on the effectiveness of mud treatment for knee arthritis

Date: 19 Feb’15

The effectiveness of thermal treatment was already known to Etruscans and Romans, who made use of thermal baths similar to our Theia swimming pools. Today scientific research, thanks to careful experimentation and university studies, confirms what has been known for centuries; a case in point is the research funded by the Regione Toscana in collaboration with the Sillene Spa of the Terme di Chianciano, which reveals the importance of thermal treatment and the cost effectiveness of treatment of knee arthritis. One-hundred patients suffering from knee arthritis characterized by pain and a reduction of functionality were selected and treated with thermal mud at 48 C° for twenty minutes followed by a bath in Sillene thermal water at 37 C° for 15 minutes, following a specific protocol. The age of the patients who took part in the scientific study was between 50 and 75. Clinical results have now been published and are clearly evident to the scientific community: the articulation motility of the patients analyzed had significantly improved and pain had decreased. In comparison, the 50 patients who during the two years of research only underwent pharmacological treatment, results were markedly inferior. A significant and sometimes determining factor was the socio-economic aspect: the cost of treatment was reduced because fewer anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective drugs were required and less money was spent on specialist appointments and physiokinesis therapy. There was also a reduction in day hospital admissions and a decrease in absence from work due to walking problems. “Our thanks to the Azienda ospedaliera Universitaria senese, and in particular to the Rheumatology Division under the direction of prof. Mauro Galeazzi and doctor Antonella Fioravanti, and to all the health, medical and technical staff of the Sillene Spa of Terme di Chianciano for the care, know-how and competence with which they conducted this demanding research and its exceptional outcome” says doctor Andrea Rapaccini, health director of the Terme di Chianciano who, supported by these results, advises mud treatment for the knee in case of arthritis, with precise indications on the months in which to undergo treatment: the winter months are the most crucial, when articulations feel the effects of the winter damp and low temperatures.